The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

I was looking forward to the new Captain America  sequel coming out this weekend.  I discover it wasn't listed on the website  of my local theater or their phone listing.  This has been happening more and more lately.  Neither Green Lantern nor The Wolverine were shown.  ( Man of Steel  must have been and I wasn't in town for  Ironman 3 or Thor: The Dark World .) For years now, they've been the "art house" theater of the Portland area. (Which I think is stupid but whatever...)  Currently, they're showing the Grand Budapest Hotel on 2 screens (TWO screens!) and will be showing 2 parts of  Nymphomaniac.  Who the hell wants to watch a sex movie with Shia Lebouf?  What kills me is this theater is situated between 2 comicbook shops! (TWO!) Because I don't drive, and because the theater in Falmouth which was directly on the busline is no more, the best option is to take the bus to So. Portland, get off at the grocery store and then ...

For this month's book group at church I read The Shack by William P. Young. Simply put, not nearly as bad as I feared it would be given the beginning reminded me of Left Behind which as a pretty good story but "nauserating" theologically. In fact, Young's novel was quite thought provoking. The book tells the story of a man irritatingly named Mackenzie Phillips (Young never saw One Day At A Time apparently...) who holds a lot of emotional pain from a abusive father and kidnapped daughter and is summoned by note to the scene of his daughter's murder supposedly by God. What I liked about the book: though The Shack is fiction, Young writes it as if Mack related the story to him to write down. It's a plot device I really want to use someday. As I implied earlier, the book's writing style was similar to Left Behind but, as the story gets going, it turns out it's more in-line with where I am theologically. Hint: God isn't an old white guy and Jesus ...

Yesterday morning, I went to a funeral for a well-respected churchgoer. It was very touching. Though I knew the man well enough to want to pay my respects, I wouldn't say I knew him all that well. Yet, I cried twice. One of the hymns they'd played makes me weepy anyway as perhaps I will always subconsciously connect it to when we moved away from my hometown. (That's my explanation for that but hopefully there's a better one.) I realize now there was transference as well. Many things the two of his children who spoke related to us my own father would do/does. And then I discover he had the same cardiologist as my grandfather... As I was preparing dinner last night, I blew up the microwave which caused the whole apartment to fill with smoke. Just before I had to go back to work... I had followed the directions on the package and never had a problem withthe product before save for water leakage but something wasn't right. I couldn't possibly have cooked it for more...

I almost forgot to go to work Wednesday then forgot to actually make sure the door was unlocked for the groups to get in. I've been pretty absent minded lately. That's of course including the leaving my cell phone charger at my parents while clearly "remembering" it was in my pocket... After I unlocked the door and finished dinner, I finished finally finished reading a book from Christmas: The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac. As really most of his books, it's a fictionalized autobiography about the Martin family of Galloway, MA which anyone who spend one night in the area knows it's Lowell. Despite the fact that there wasn't really a centralized plot per se, there was many a scene or chapter that was interesting. But Josh, if it was so good, why'd it take you six months to read it? Well, I kept getting distracted by books my book group wanted to read and I didn't say it was good; I said it had it's moments. I got the sense while reading it...

While doing two stints at church this week unlocking doors, etc., first at the dance group and domestic violence group on Wednesday then for the final string quartet concert of the season just yesterday, I finished reading Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou for this afternoon's book group. Today due to vacation schedules and possibly naps, I was the only male among four women; all of whom are over 50. (I don't think that last bit's important but maybe...) The book had it's moments but, frankly, aside from all the name dropping, I've seen better Lifetime movies because "men are evil and they will hurt you." The book basically deals with her life between like '57 and '62. Several instances were interesting and amazing that one woman actually went through all this but it simply was not a "guy's book."

1. My boss at the library is on vacation this week though was here on Monday anyway. Yesterday, it was fine. The semester is over so, besides the workstudy students, we had only one come in who needed help with the copier occasionally. The biggest problem lately has been our computers are totally crappy. We have 4 and it really seems like I have to go to each one to perform a specific task and it involves much rebooting. Today, I walked down as usual to find the seminary closed today due to the elevator project my church has been involved in. (You knew it was the same building, correct?) Was I called? Nope. The secretary called me once so I don't know why she wouldn't have my number... ::shrugs:: 2. Though thinking back I know when it happened, we discovered a couple nights ago that we no longer have BBC America as they moved it to the digital cable level. This was the cable system I've encountered where it was expanded basic but still... Epic Fail. 3. I heard through Fac...

Wednesday was the Seminary's end of the year party. Despite no homemade feast this time, this was more fun to me than the last Christmas party. Once again, graduating students rang the bell for every semester they attended. This year, we had two 16s! But, Josh, you work on Wednesday night. Yes, I was working I just didn't get the money I'm used to. The dance group was canceled so we could use the space. The seminary gives more money to my church in terms of rent so there you go... The family crisis group still met so I had to give directions. To both groups actually. My mother and aunt came down to visit their mother as my aunt was on vacation this week. I went over for dinner on Monday and then they took me, my cousin and my other aunt out to lunch. (Well, actually, only me and my roommate hadn't actually eaten yet but whatever...) While they were down, their brother's cat was very sickly so they offered to pay to have him (the cat, not my uncle) put down. It wa...

JJ Abrams has taken the mantle of God, if you will, from Rick Berman. Starting with Alias , I can't think of anything that guy has done that hasn't totally rocked. (Didn't watch Felicity and don't want really want to...) His vision for the new Star Trek universe is scary cool. Almost every nitpick I may have had was wiped out from the opening scene. Every review I read say the same thing about the casting: Eerily close but slightly different. I agree with this assessment. Exact quotes were even used. Abrams said, probably more than once, that he wanted Star Trek to be more like Star Wars . So, he blew up Alderaan. I don't think I would have had the balls to obliterate the planet they did but, reading interviews with writers Kurtzman and Orci, I understand why they did. They wanted to show that this universe isn't the one we know and love. Because I can't do a review without nitpicks, here they are: Kirk's older brother's part apparently ended ...

Last Sunday, and I can't believe I didn't post about this, I went to a workshop on energy conservation tips for church congregations. A 3-hour workshop. May energy was sapped after that...I'm glad I went though. My friend needed the moral support from her friends and I was the only one to show up. The presenter of the PowerPoint (Yeah, that's how Firefox wants to spell it...) reminded me of my uncle but a bit more of a snob know-it-all. I think he was probably a lax Catholic as he seemed to suggest we're all about the building and not spiritual matters. After that and a Q&A, they decided a tour would be a good idea though it was held at my church so I declined. They also asked if I wanted to be a part of their board. Um, no... Not that I really could afford to but it was a nice day so I walked do to the Old Port and bought a couple CDs at ye olde local music shoppe. I was really looking for a good deal on the Pretenders new one as even Amazon is selling it at a...

Today, relatives came to my aunt's apartment (Did I mention that she lives in our building now?) to celebrate my grandfather's 87th birthday. Nothing completely annoying happened but it frankly tests my love of mature conversation. It didn't help that it was scheduled during a Red Sox game. I had heard all the news already. I don't care if my uncle is shopping around for truck to plow is driveway... I don't think I mentioned this last time I did it but for the second time, I was the roamer/floater for my Sunday school this morning. All you do really is wander back and forth between the classes and make sure there's no murder or molestation going on. OK, there's more of a point than that but you understand... Yesterday, I went to the mall and got my haircut. The guy who cut my hair asked me twice if it started raining yet. Do I get weather reports beamed to my brain every ten minutes? Sadly, no. When I returned home, I started to do some writing but was int...

Watched Stargate: Continuum last night. Overall, I liked it. Never have I seen an alternate timeline actually complain about getting fixed. Of course, they were going to anyway because yuck...Alternate timeline stories on Stargate all have similar elements. Teal'c is always First Prime to someone although making it Ba'al instead of Apophis was different. Also, because Vala is part of the cast now, having Quetesh was of course mandatory. (That was a cool part however.) When I was watching it, I thought Apophis being the last Ssytem Lord to resist Ba'al seemed strange but I realized today that Ba'al helped take down Anubis in the proper timeline so...Two questions/statements about Daniel: One, his losing a leg was glossed over as the movie went along. I realize a whole year went by but...And Two, why does he just happen to to know the name of the ship that brought the Stargate to America? I realize he probably read it somewhere or Catherine told him at some point but ev...

On Friday after work, I helped set up for Saturday's string quartet concert and then walked to the bank in the pouring rain. Fun times but I suppose if you walked in a nor'easter, that was nothing. Besides, I had Chinese food waiting... Saturday was the concert itself. I showed up when I was told but I really think I could wait at least another half hour before going. Since I'm "the guy" now, I may negotiate this. Nothing really that exciting happened. I did get approached by a woman who complained the water fountain just gave a "weak stream." She must have been using only one finger or something because I found, when I "palmed" it, it worked fine. I liked that they do afternoon concerts now as I can be home for dinner but attendance at this one in particular wasn't good. I arrived home to discover our movie-loving friend who I knew was coming up for the day was still there so we had pizza and beer and watched the following movies... Hel...

Some of you may be interested in knowing what's new in my life. A couple weeks ago, I finished reading Ernie's Ark which is a collection of short stories written by Maine author Monica Wood. Recently, I read on fellow Maine author Tess Gerritsen's website that she felt the short story format was dead. I agree it's dying but I'm not sure it's totally dead as this book, put out only a couple years ago, proves. The important factor here, I think, is that the 9 stories are connected; moderately in some cases, tightly in others. I enjoyed the book overall. Of course, given the format, I enjoyed some stories more than others... I enjoy accurately described Maine. We've been reading a lot of non-fiction in my book group so I was pleased someone else picked a fiction book. I think I missed it... Remember I mentioned the seminary was searching for professors in both Old Testament and New Testament? The appointments have been officially announced. In OT, they we...

As some of you know, the book group I am part of at my church, decided my book would be a good one to read over the holidays. We discussed it yesterday afternoon. It went much better than I thought it would, honestly. The format of our monthly meetings is to just discuss the book of the month but, since I the author was there, it turned into a Q & A with moi. I'd have to re-read the interview I did for the paper for instance but this may have been the first time anyone asked me why I picked a female protagonist. The answer simply is I wanted the challenge. (The consensus was I handled this fairly well.) This was definitely the first time I was asked about what a neutron bomb actually was. This was probably the first time I discussed Winter Storm with a fan of the political thriller genre so I was pleased she was engrossed by the plot. I conclude this section with a couple humorous exchanges; at least to me: Woman: The airport scene in [Geneva] was quite accurate. Me: Really? ...

The title is a reference to my favorite line, found in chapter 4, of the book club book I just finished Saturday night: Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestup; who, by the way, went to the seminary I now work. The book tells the true story of how she dealt with the sudden death of her husband through mothering her four children, her job as Maine State Game Warden Chaplin, and her faith. There were hilarious parts and there were touching parts. I'm glad being part of a book group has encouraged me to read more nonfiction as I know for a fact that I definitely wouldn't have read this book for instance otherwise. Where was I when I finished it? Working another string quartet concert at my church. No icy sidewalks or prima donna pianists so it went much smoother this time. Apparently, I'm being groomed to eventually take over for the guy from church that usually works them. Eventually. I'm ambivalent as he pulls out all the stops but the extra money would obviously be nice....

Probably every four years, maybe more often, maybe less, the "Christian Right" determine which candidate best follows their interpretation of the Bible. This forces the implication that to be a follower of Jesus' teaching you must be a Republican. I have no idea where people get this. I personally do not remember the verse or chapter where Jesus goes to Abraham's homeland (Find Ur on a map. It's in Iraq!) and subjects the villagers to illegal search and seizure or the part where Jesus praises John the Baptist, or whoever, for leveling a Samaritan village after a Samaritan bombs a donkey or something. But they must be in there... The death penalty is based on the code of Hammarabi which states "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Jesus says, on the other hand, Christians must "turn the other cheek" and that the other law was total donkeyshit. Someone will have to explain to me how continuing the act of vengeance with another act of vengeanc...

The first selection from my book group was Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian. This maybe the first non-fiction book I've reviewed here. (For now, we'll just say it is.) My conservative readers may say that this book is pure liberal trash but no it isn't. Sure, it ultimately supports a liberal point of view but it was compiled from interviews with a few dozen veterans of the current conflict and points out that several things that seem to us as wrong couldn't be helped because they weren't supplied translators, proper training or the situation didn't give them time to think it through properly. The cultural/language barrier seemed to be the biggest problem faced by the soldiers. This was a perspective that I really didn't give a passing thought before reading the book. As a liberal, I was, of course, bothered by incidents related where the troops were ordered to perform acts to civilians, or the ...

I guess we'll start on Saturday. I had an alumni Homecoming celebration downtown. As usual, nobody from my class came but I was surprised as I entered that a friend from high school was there. It turns out that her sister is the director of Alumni Relations at my college. Somewhat weird I think although I didn't go that far way to college so that may explain it... Sunday we were supposed to go out to eat with family as some of my aunts and uncles were going to be up but lunch was scheduled too early for us so my other aunt and I ended up getting our food to go before heading over to my grandparents. This turned out fine in the end. We started a book group at my church that afternoon. I guess we'll be meeting monthly. I discuss the first book after I finish it which shouldn't be much longer. Monday, my cousin/roommate, my aunt and I met my aunt and uncle who had been up visiting from Jersey. This went well until we got talking politics against my better judgment but what...

This past weekend, I went up with a group from my church and my parents to the Maine Conference UCC's Annual Meeting up at the University of Maine at Farmington. Overall, it was a good meeting. In the past, I'd would go to this with my parents and get "I changed your diapers when you were a baby." Thank God no one said that exact phrase to me this time but I did see people hadn't seen me in years. This year was good because there were an equal number of people who knew me as I am now from the seminary so this was great. Friday night, my father and I thought it would be a good a idea to go grab a beer somewhere. We couldn't find a bar anywhere. In a college town. Do you see the irony here? Here's some more: according to a professor of the school I met, UMF is 75% women and their mascot is the "Beavers." The major issue of the weekend was a vote on a resolution to authorize one of our commissions to "discern" on the conference becoming ...

Yesterday because our apartment was being fumigated, I was downtown a lot. After work and lunch, I went the local bookstore and they finally agreed to put the copy I left on the shelf and then we'll see how that goes! I've alerted my friends in town so it should go well. Now if Borders agrees to a similar deal, I'll be all set... After that I went to see Kung Fu Panda with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan to name a few. While the movie wasn't " Shrek funny," it still had me laughing pretty hard in places. There was this girl about 4 or 5 years old you was laughing hysterically during most of the film... Last night was my church's pot luck and Annual Meeting which meant no dance group and no money for me but I did get dinner. For the most part, the meeting was straightforward until the end when we discussed the new capital campaign and whether to allow alcohol in the church. The former issue was settled fairly well (The goal am...